An expressive drawing of the leader of the Assassin sect, Hassan al-Sabah (social networking sites)

The founder of the Nizari Ismaili sect, or what is known as the “Assassin group.” He was born in Iran and died there. His father raised him to follow the Twelver sect, and when he reached the age of 17, he converted to the Ismaili sect.

He worked for a period in the Seljuk court, then he began to move between the regions of Iran to spread the Ismaili doctrine secretly, and his followers increased until he seized the Alamut Castle and made it a center for his preaching, and from there he began to expand his influence in the neighboring regions, and laid the foundations of what he and his sect called “the Fedayeen,” as he used to send... His followers assassinate his opponents in broad daylight to create fear and terror in the hearts of his enemies.

Birth and upbringing

Al-Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Jaafar bin Al-Hussein bin Muhammad Al-Sabah Al-Himyari was born in the year 428 AH, corresponding to 1037 AD, in the city of Qom, which was a major center for Twelver Shiites, while some sources suggest that he was born in the town of Masum in the Rayy province near Tehran.

His lineage goes back to the Himyar tribe, where his father came from Yemen to Kufa and from there to Qom and from Qom to Rayy, where he settled with his family.

His father followed the Twelver doctrine, and he was interested in teaching his son this doctrine and encouraged him to learn about the various sciences of his time.

At the age of 17, he met an Ismaili preacher and entered into an extensive debate and discussion with him, which constituted a decisive turning point in his ideas and belief, and he ended up embracing the Ismaili doctrine.

He had knowledge of arithmetic and engineering, and was familiar with the various theoretical and practical sciences of his time, which qualified him to join the Seljuk court and work as an employee and administrative advisor to Sultan Malikshah.

In the Seljuk court

Accounts differ regarding the circumstances of his entry into and departure from the Seljuk court, and they are all linked to an alleged relationship between him and the Seljuk minister Nizam al-Mulk.

Some sources talk about a friendship between Al-Hassan Al-Sabah, Nizam Al-Mulk, and the poet Omar Khayyam during their childhood. These sources claim that the three of them studied in Nishapur and pledged that if one of them achieved success, he would extend a helping hand to the rest. Therefore, when Nizam Al-Mulk became a minister, Al-Hasan Al-Sabah took Al-Sabah to work in the court. Seljuk.

However, this narration is being questioned by some researchers because Al-Hasan Al-Sabah was born in the year 428 AH and Nizam Al-Mulk was born in the year 408 AH, which means that the age difference between them is 20 years, which invalidates the idea that they were friends during their studies, and the most reliable historical sources state However, Al-Sabah received his education in the city of Al-Ray, not Nishapur.

Accounts differed as to why the Hassan al-Sabah sect was called “Assassins” (social networking sites)

On the other hand, some Shiite historians say that Minister Nizam al-Mulk conspired to remove Hassan al-Sabah from the Seljuk court and arouse the Sultan’s anger against him after al-Sabah demonstrated competence. The minister feared that his position in the court would be destroyed and the Sultan’s confidence in him would be shaken. This is the story by which Shiite historians explain the motives for Hassan’s escape. to Egypt.

However, Ibn al-Atheer, in his book “Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh,” denies that any clash occurred during that period between al-Sabah and Nizam al-Mulk. Indeed, the latter treated him well, and Ibn al-Atheer explains al-Sabah’s escape to Egypt by the annoyance of the head of the city of al-Ray over his activity in the Ismaili call and his harboring a group of the Fatimids. Egyptians.

As for Al-Sabah, he explains his going to Egypt in fragments from his biography as implementing the directive of the great preacher Abd al-Malik ibn Attash on the necessity of going to Cairo to attend lessons in esoteric sciences and to meet the Fatimid Caliph Imam al-Mustansir and declare loyalty to him directly.

in Egypt

When he left the city of Rayy in 467 AH/1076 AD, Al-Sabah did not go directly to Egypt. Rather, he headed towards Isfahan and spent a period there preaching the Ismaili-Fatimi school of thought. Then he headed to Azerbaijan and from there to Miyafariq, then to Mosul, then to Sinjar, Al-Rahba, Damascus, Sidon, Sour, Aka, and from there. He took the sea route to the coast of Egypt.

He arrived in Cairo in the year 471 AH/1078 AD and was warmly received by the Fatimid Caliph, Imam Al-Mustansir, as well as senior preachers and statesmen. During his meeting with the Caliph, Al-Sabah asked him, “Who is my imam after you?”

He said, “My son Nizar.”

In Egypt, he clashed with the prince of its armies and the Minister of the Sword and Pen, Badr al-Jamali, who was against Nizar assuming the caliphate after al-Mustansir and a supporter of his younger brother Ahmed al-Mustali. In addition, al-Jamali was fed up with al-Mustansir’s appreciation for al-Hasan, so he worked to expel him from Egypt after he had spent 3 years there, but some Historians say he spent about 18 months there.

Fortifying in Alamut

Al-Sabah left Egypt and headed by sea to Acre, from there to Aleppo, then to Baghdad, and from there to Persia. He reached Isfahan in June 1081 AD / 473 AH, and remained for 9 years moving from one city to another in secret, calling for the Ismaili doctrine and gaining supporters.

During this period, his supporters in Isfahan killed a muezzin whom they had invited to their sect, but he refused to respond to them, so they feared that their matter would be revealed to the authorities. This was the first assassination carried out by his followers.

When the news of the incident reached the Seljuk Minister Nizam al-Mulk, he ordered the arrest of the killer. He then became aware of the danger of this group and the threat it posed to the security and stability of the authority, so he began tracking down its members and preachers, which prompted al-Sabah to think seriously about creating an impenetrable fortress that would protect him and his followers from continued persecution and enable him to He published his invitation.

Al-Sabah chose Alamut Castle for this purpose. It is a fortress built by one of the kings of Daylam and located on top of a high rock in the middle of the mountains, about 100 km from the city of Tehran. The Al-Sabah group’s seizure of this castle was the first major historical act carried out by this nascent movement.

From Alamut Citadel, Al-Sabah continued to spread his message in the surrounding areas, and took control of a number of castles and fortresses, sometimes using ideological persuasion and other times military force. His expansionist ambitions angered the Seljuk Sultan Malikshah, so he decided to direct two military campaigns to Alamut Citadel and Qahestan to eliminate Al-Sabah’s growing influence, but they failed. in achieving their goals.

The first assassination

Al-Hassan al-Sabah, the Seljuk minister, placed Nizam al-Mulk at the top of his assassination list as his first enemy and the enemy of his movement, as he was one of the most ardent warriors of esoteric intellectual sects.

On the 10th of Ramadan in the year 485 AH/1092 AD, a fidayi from the Ismaili Batiniya, disguised as a poor Sufi, approached the minister, claiming that he had a grievance. When Nizam al-Mulk approached him, he stabbed him in the heart and he fell dead when he was 77 years old. This is considered the first assassination of a character. This movement carried out a major operation, and with it, Hassan al-Sabah laid the foundations for “Guerilla Action,” as Shiite historians say.

After this operation, the movement carried out a series of assassinations targeting senior figures who opposed its call, including ministers, army commanders, princes, and scholars, with the aim of instilling fear in the hearts of its enemies.

Shortly after the assassination of Nizam al-Mulk, Sultan Malikshah died, and internal wars broke out between his sons, weakening the Seljuk central authority. Al-Sabah seized this opportunity to expand his influence and spread his message throughout Iran in a visible manner, which was achieved thanks to the tolerance of Barkiariq, one of the sons of Sultan Malikshah, who were disputing over the rule of the King. The throne, as he cooperated with the Assassins to eliminate his opponents in exchange for granting Al-Sabah the freedom to spread his message.

Al-Sabah was able to gain more followers, so his group’s strength increased, its influence expanded, and it seized many castles extending over a continuous geographical area until it formed a sprawling state that it called the Land of Ismailia.

Sultan Barkiariq felt danger threatening his authority, whether from the Al-Sabah group, whose influence was growing, or from the growing discontent of those who opposed his tolerance towards its members, so he made an agreement with the rulers of the Iranian states to eliminate the Ismailis throughout Iran and kill those who belonged to it, which exposed it to a major setback, and yet it remained their stronghold. The main one is in Alamut Castle, away from any threat.

A poster promoting the Egyptian series “The Assassins”, which was shown by channels and platforms in Ramadan 2024 (social networking sites)

This setback did not stop Al-Sabah. Rather, he continued to send preachers and guerrillas to various Iranian regions and to Syria to assassinate figures who publicly spoke out in opposition to him. Among the figures who were assassinated by his men during that period was the honorable minister, Abu Al-Mahasin Abdul Jalil bin Muhammad Al-Dahistani, the minister of Sultan Barkiariq. Wali Bayhaq, the Mufti of Isfahan, the leader of the Karamiya sect in Nishapur, and the Samirami vizier, the vizier of Sultan Mahmud.

Hassan al-Sabah also ordered the implementation of sabotage operations to terrorize opponents of his sect, such as burning the famous Isfahan Mosque, which was a center for the Sunni movement.

Attempts to demolish Alamut Castle, where Hassan al-Sabah was holed up, continued for several decades. It was besieged by the Seljuk Sultan Malikshah, as well as by his son, Sultan Barkiariq, and after him by Sultan Muhammad, who besieged it for 8 years. After him, Sultan Sanjar tried to continue his brother’s policy and attack Hassan al-Sabah, but he was subjected to a direct death threat, so he ended the siege. .

Alamut...myths and facts

Some sources say that Hassan al-Sabah built palaces and vast gardens in Alamut Castle and made rivers of wine, milk and honey in them, and brought beautiful young girls to them to create a place resembling paradise according to the descriptions that came in the Holy Qur’an. Among the texts that reported these allegations were what was written by the famous traveler Marco Polo. .

These accounts claim that the leader of the Ismailis used to give the young men hashish and opium until they lost consciousness, then he would transport them to palaces inside the citadel where they would enjoy the atmosphere of paradise, then he would put them to sleep again and bring them back and make them believe that they were in the highest paradise. If he wanted to assassinate a character, he would assign some of his followers to do this work and promise them That their fate after death would be to return to that paradise in which they were and knew, so the guerrillas carried out his orders and killed the enemies of their master boldly and without fear of the death that awaited them.

But analyzing the topographical nature of the citadel makes one classify the writings of Marco Polo and other historians as myths, according to the Egyptian thinker and professor of philosophy of religions, Muhammad Othman Al-Khasht.

According to the same source, the castle is located on a rock more than 10,000 feet above sea level in the Persian Highlands, and the climate of this region is very cold, as snow falls for more than 6 months a year.

Other historians also mentioned that the population was isolating the animals in the southern regions for fear of the extreme cold that they could not bear. Therefore, Al-Khasht considered that what Marco Polo mentioned, and many historians followed him without verification, had no basis in truth, and were mere myths added to the narratives. Others spread about Al-Sabah and his group, including the saying that they were called the Assassins because his followers used the drug hashish before carrying out any assassination operation, while other accounts suggest that this name was given to them because they were forced to eat the grass of the earth during the years of siege of their castle.

Al-Khasht believes that the secret nature that distinguished Nizari Ismailism gave its opponents the opportunity to weave myths and legends about its history and the ideas of its founder, and they benefited from destroying most of the texts written by the leaders of the group, especially the morning after the Tatars took control of the citadel and burned all the books in it.

Egyptian actor Karim Abdel Aziz played the role of Hassan Al-Sabah in the series “The Assassins” (social networking sites)

Dialectical personality

Since his seizure of Alamut Castle until his death, Al-Hassan Al-Sabah remained isolated in the castle, and from it he was able to run a small state breakaway from Sunni rule in which he enjoyed spiritual, intellectual and political leadership, and relied on an army of skilled preachers and guerrillas who were ready to die at the signal of the leader.

Some historians mention that over the course of 35 years, he only left the citadel twice, and he spent most of his time thinking, contemplating, reading, and writing. He wrote many books that looked at the Ismaili doctrine and refuted opinions that contradicted it, but these works were destroyed after the Tatars took control of the citadel years after his death. .

Al-Shahrastani - one of the Ash'ari scholars, and a contemporary of Al-Sabah - was credited with preserving a summary of his teachings called "The Four Chapters," and Sunni historians also preserved fragments of his biography, in addition to some Ismaili books that quoted some of his views.

He is described as the founder of a bloody, misguided movement, and sometimes others describe it as a group of atheists who do not believe in God, while other sources stated that he founded a revolutionary movement that was born in the extremely complex and weak circumstances that the Islamic world was experiencing.

A letter he addressed to Malikshah included his thoughts and beliefs and his response to all the accusations directed against him, in which he said that he did not bring a new religion, but rather he owed the religion of Islam and the message of the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him peace.

In his letter, he attacked the Abbasids, saying that they spread corruption and immorality on earth, and killed thousands of the Prophet’s children in the ends of the world until they were forced to hide and isolate themselves to save themselves, while the Abbasid caliphs were preoccupied with worldly pleasures, and he denounced some of their actions, including the flogging of Abu Hanifa al-Kufi, even though he was a scholar. One of the prominent figures of Islam, Mansour Al-Hallaj, who was a role model for the people, was crucified.

Regarding the assassination by his followers of some of the most senior officials in the state, Al-Sabah justified it by the deviation of the Sultan’s employees, the agents of the King’s regime, and the masters of transactions on the borders of Khorasan from the right path, and their ignoring of the private parts of the people and their killing of women in front of their husbands, in addition to the injustice they were practicing towards the subjects.

While some accounts describe Al-Hassan Al-Sabah as being obsessed with power, others describe him as a contented ascetic who did not like extravagance and luxury, and was strict in applying the provisions of Sharia law. He prohibited his followers from drinking alcohol, music, and other forbidden pleasures.

Some sources also say that he was firm and strict in managing the affairs of his group, and he put the public interest above all else, and he was not lenient in applying the principles and teachings of his movement, to the point that he did not hesitate to kill his son Hussein when he was involved in the killing of a preacher, and he executed his second son after he found him drinking. Alcohol, and one of his preachers was expelled from the castle because he was having fun playing the flute.

Death

Al-Hasan al-Sabah fell ill with death in Rabi` al-Awwal in the year 518 AH. When he felt that his death was approaching, he summoned his representative in the Lamsar Castle, who was Barzak Amid. He was one of the most prominent preachers and sincere in spreading the Ismaili call, and he had extensive knowledge of the principles of the doctrine, so he chose him to succeed him, and on Rabi` al-Thani 6 of the year. He himself passed away.

Source: Al Jazeera + websites